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Gymnastics

Today, I took Gregory to a “Mommy and Me” gymnastics class at the old gym I was a part of as a child. It was nostalgic, to say the least (although I did quite a bit more than jump and climb around back then!).

Gregory is a bit of an odd duck when it comes to new social situations. Most of the time, he sits off to the side, observing quietly, until he finds something he can feel safe doing. When he finds that, he latches on like a leech and doesn’t let go. After a bit, if we’re lucky, he branches out.

Today was no exception. Guess what they had littered alllll over the floor? BALLS. Of all different shapes and sizes. Gregory was in heaven. For the first half of class, Gregory must have sent at least 3 kids crashing to the ground because he was throwing balls into the dancing/prancing session of “circle time”. The first time I got him to “climb” the circuit of soft obstacles (he was totally mesmerized by the trampoline), he complied. The second time? He gave me a low warning growl (spending too much time with Clarabelle?), reminding me that he wanted the BALLS.

But he became more and more interested in what the other kids were doing as the hour progressed, even voluntarily climbing on the circuit and trying to walk on the straight line velcro-ed to the floor. There were lots of fun songs and group activities, although only half of the kids participated (the other half were climbing and jumping off of everything in sight!).

I took my eyes off Gregory for one second, and when I found him again, he’d run over to the corner, near one of the speakers that was blasting some nonsense song about “staying true to yourself”. And he was dancing. Not any old dancing. River dancing. He had one foot at a time, tapping in front of him to the rhythm, both hands on his hips. Then, he turned sideways and started hopping back and forth. It was the FUNNIEST thing I’ve seen in a long time. I really wish I could’ve gotten it on video.

OH, THE IRONY.

Only wants to throw balls because he’s too manly to play on the gym equipment?

Off in the corner, doing some undeniably feminine river-dancing moves by himself? What???

Then, the whole way home, I could hear Gregory in the backseat talking about it all. Lots of gibberish, but I could make out a few words, mainly, “BALL!” Also, this string of words kept repeating itself: “Home, Dadda! Home, Wee! Home, COOKIE!”. Hmmm…..so I may have had a hard time getting him to leave….caught red-handed, bribing my kid…..

The class meets every Tuesday and Thursday morning, and it’s pretty cheap. I think we’ll be going often!